It’s a sad reality that there are laws that legislators failed to have them updated. Obviously, broken laws are not fully applicable to the current situations thus can cause harm rather help the society improved and secured.

One of those laws is the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) which was passed into law in 1976. And because it wasn’t been updated, tens of thousands of potentially harmful chemicals continue to be used in the marketplace without proper testing and without disclosure by the companies that produce them.

In the United States, there are more than 80,000 chemicals available that never been fully tested for their toxic effects on people’s health and environment.

Unfortunately, TSCA makes it nearly impossible for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take regulatory action against dangerous chemicals, even those that are known to cause cancer or other serious health effects.

TSCA’s weaknesses have left EPA largely unable to act on known health dangers or require testing on specific chemicals that may be unsafe.

In this regard, immediate amendments of TSCA is necessary and a meaningful reform should aim to:

1. Protect the most vulnerable among us, including pregnant women, children, workers and communities who are disproportionately exposed to chemicals.
2. Require public access to information regarding the safety of chemicals.
3. Respect the rights of states to protect their residents when the federal government fails to do so.
4. Require the Environmental Protection Agency to take fast action on the most harmful chemicals and include specific timetables for such regulatory actions.

TAKE ACTION

And as a part of our campaign to achieve a toxic-free environment, we are pushing to collect 100,000 signature to oblige Congress to re-evaluate TSCA for the first time since 1976.

The Seventh Generation and together with Social Good Moms, are determined on this fight against toxins.

If you are concern with the future, not just of your own children, but the thousands of kids in different states in the US, if you see some things under your sink that you’re not so confident using anymore, if you feel at risk now after learning how many chemicals around us that are not tested and are not safe, THERE’S STILL HOPE.

We are encouraging you to sign the online petition that will be presented to Congress on April 30, 2014 and help CREATE CHANGE.

Disclosure: This is a paid campaign in partnership with Seventh Generation and Social Good Moms.

The Author

Divine Reyes is a broadcast journalist and a college professor in the Philippines. Disclaimer: Articles posted in DivineReyes.info are only the author’s personal views and are in no way connected to where she is currently affiliated. Some review articles may be sponsored or items are given for free in exchange of presenting an honest opinion. For inquiries, email divinereyes.info(at)gmail(dot)com.